Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Different Waves Of "Chineseness": Analysis Of Culture References And Lyrics In Zhongguofeng Music, Austin S. Ye

Masters Theses

Zhongguofeng music 中国风流行曲 has had an impact on the Chinese pop music industry. Although the style of music uses familiar overtones that have been in wide usage within Western pop music, Zhongguofeng aims to emphasize more of a connection to a unified sense of Chinese culture, ethnicity, and identity. Specifically, I will argue that “Chineseness” is constructed through lyrics, which contain cultural references to the imperial era of China, and accompanying music videos, which provide visual imagery that further draws the viewer into an idealized “China”. In addition, the song’s instrumentals blend Western pop stylings with traditional Chinese instruments and …

Songs Of Limitless Love: A Translation And Critical Exploration Of Suzukake Shin’S Ai Wo Utae, Venezio K. Terranova

Masters Theses

This thesis is a translation and analysis of select tanka from the tanka anthology, Ai wo utae (Sing Love), by Suzukake Shin, an openly gay Japanese contemporary tanka poet. Published by Seidosha in 2019, the anthology contains twenty-eight rensaku (sequences) with a total of 295 individual tanka. In this thesis, I have translated six of the twenty-eight rensaku for a total of sixty-three individual tanka. Tanka are a thirty-one syllable Japanese poem that has its roots in the Heian Period (794-1185). Before presenting my English translations of Suzukake’s tanka, I give a critical introduction that consists …

An Investigation Into American University Students’ Motivation For Chinese Learning: A Case Study, Qingqing Zhang

Masters Theses

The study investigates the motivation behind learners of the Chinese language as a second language at the university level in the United States of America. The study uses Dornyei’s (1994a) three-level framework of L2 motivation and Dornyei’s (2001a) demotivation theory, as the theory guidelines. In addition, the study takes both quantitative and qualitative approaches and uses questionnaires and interviews for data collection.

First, the study explores the various constructions of motivation for students learning Chinese at a public university in the New England region. All students who were enrolled in the elementary, intermediate, and advanced Chinese courses at the University …

Gustav Mahler's Symphonies And The Search For Identity, Brian Hailes

Masters Theses

Throughout his life Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) was aware of his role as an outsider and had a deeply conflicted view of his identity. The challenges he faced as a Jew in an overwhelmingly Christian and increasingly anti-Semitic Central Europe, as a German speaker in predominantly Czech speaking Bohemia and Moravia, as a Czech in the Austrian empire, and as an Austrian in a highly militarized but rapidly declining empire in the face of increasing pan-German nationalism, all contributed to this status. At the same time, his diverse early background provided a rich variety of musical experience, leading to an openness …

Perspectives Of International Music Teachers In The United States, Pedro Gomes Lobato

Masters Theses

Today’s world is vastly impacted by the effects of immigration and globalization. The cultural diversity in the student population in the United States continues to grow steadily along with the immigrant population. Although there is a large body of research that is concerned with culturally responsive teaching in music education, preservice teacher preparation to address and serve diverse communities, as well as issues of recruitment of diverse educators, there is a gap in the literature when it comes to the perspectives of international music educators in the United States. Researchers have provided information on diverse student populations and resources for …

Mixed Messages, Hannah Duggan

Masters Theses

The bodies of work that I have created during graduate school stem from my interest in mass media, culture studies and spectatorship in the digital era. My research engages digital technology and media studies to consider the ethics and ambivalence associated with spectatorship. Using traditional art mediums, I explore social and digital media, revealing tensions through representation and materiality. This translation from digital to analogue media is pivotal in all my work. Handmade objects introduce slippage and meaning as they break from the limiting format of the screen. This thesis will explore the research and content that inspired the creation …

Marked At Sea: Race, Class, And Tattoo Culture In Melville's Early Sea Fiction, Connell D. Swenson

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the role of Euromerican maritime tattoos in Herman Melville’s early sea fiction. Through layers of historic and scholarly obfuscation, Euromerican maritime tattoos have been delimited to a marginal role in the cosmopolitan shipboard culture of 19^th-century Pacific whaling and trade networks. This project extracts and contextualizes that cultural practice as formative in the creation of sailors’ hybrid embodied identities. With this intervention in mind, Euromerican maritime tattooing emerges as a small but important feature in Melville’s first six books. Probing issues such as race, class, slavery, and colonialism, this project deploys an intimate reading practice, …

Heavy Metal In Medieval Europe, Sean M. Klimmek

Masters Theses

How and why did plate armor come to be widely used in Medieval Europe? I trace the historical development of armor in Europe from antiquity to the middle ages, and then identify the main causes that pushed European warriors to develop and adopt plate armor from the 14th to the 16th centuries. I rely on prior research by scholars and historians of arms and armor, as well as primary source documents that describe arms and armor and their use in tournaments and on the battlefield. I conclude that a combination of social, political, military, and technical factors pushed European warriors …

Visionary Futures: Science Fiction Theatre For Social Justice Movements, Joshua Glenn-Kayden

Masters Theses

This written portion of my thesis chronicles my experience as director and producer of Visionary Futures: Science Fiction Theatre for Social Justice Movements, in collaboration with playwrights, activists, actors, designers, and a dramaturg.

In this thesis, I explore the process of creating a meaningful thesis project during the Covid-19 pandemic. I discuss the idea of visionary fiction as created by adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha and how to create theatre within that genre. This thesis chronicles the development and production of three new plays of visionary fiction that wrestle with contemporary social issues, all designed for digital performance. I …

The Acquisition Of Advanced Level Chinese Heritage Language (Chl) Learners：A Comparative Analysis Concerning The Aspect Marker “Le了”, Jingjing Ao

Masters Theses

Over the decades, research on heritage language learners has been quite popular, but most studies concern Russian, Spanish and other languages rather than Chinese. The Chinese heritage language learner’s studies focus mainly on K-12 students and their learning motivations, writing characteristics, and identification recognition and those concerned with language acquisition address their vocabulary and verbal Chinese development. There have been very few studies about learning grammar. This study emphasizes on the acquisition of the aspect marker LE among advanced learners.

To investigate the acquisition characteristics of advanced CHL learners, this study adopted the advanced CHL learners as the research group …

Viewing Heinrich Schenker Through The Lens Of Disability, Charles Hsueh

Masters Theses

Many scholars have discussed Austrian music theorist Heinrich Schenker (1868-1935). While discourse has mainly focused on Schenkerian analysis, recent scholarship has started to examine the role of Schenker as a person (e.g., Schenker as a Jewish individual, Schenker as a racist, etc.), and how these identities influenced his views on music. Yet, within these new explorations and discussions, the aspect of disability and Schenker as an individual with a disability have not been as seriously examined. After examining his biography through the lens of disability in the introduction (Chapter 1), this thesis discusses disability's influence on Schenker through two additional …

Memory Vague: A History Of City Pop, Jeffrey Salazar

Masters Theses

This thesis gives a definition and chronology of city pop and places it within the context of Japanese history. City pop can be traced from the 1960s folk movement in Japan until its demise in the early 1990s, coinciding with the end of the bubble economy. This thesis also examines the mid-2010s resurgence of interest in city pop among English-speaking internet users, beginning with a nostalgic rediscovery and curation of city pop around the turn of the century by DJs in Japan known as “crate diggers.” City pop was then transmitted to the West through sampling in hip-hop and especially …

A Religião E O Papel Da Mulher Na Desestabilização E Humanização Do Discurso Judaico-Cristão Em Duas Obras De José Saramago: O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo E Caim, Camila C. Santiago

Masters Theses

It is intrinsic to modernity the expansion of the philosophical detachment from the religious view as critical reason takes place in science, art and the worldview of modern man. Through Kant's reflections, in The Religion within the limits of reason alone (1793), we will seek to understand this process of rupture between faith and reason which explains the prevailing thought in postmodernity. We chose the renowned writer, José Saramago, and his works of religious nature as our objects of study, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ (1991) and Cain (2009), as they represent, in the Portuguese language, the voice of …

Benjamin Smith Lyman: Geologist At The Intersection Of Hokkaido, Japan, And The United States, Benjamin Ashby

Masters Theses

Benjamin Smith Lyman was a geologist from Northampton, Massachusetts, who was contracted by the Japanese government in 1872 to carry out coal surveys on the island of Hokkaidō 北海道. What started out as a standard geological survey, quickly evolved into a lifelong interest in Japan for Lyman. The large collection of letters, books, photographs, and other documents housed under the Benjamin Smith Lyman Collection at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, serve as a primary source on both early relations between the Japanese and the West and the beginnings of the large network of academic writings which today can be classified …

Self-Representation In Selected Poems Of Gu Taiqing (1799-1877), Li-Ting Chang

Masters Theses

Gu Taiqing 顧太清 (1799-1877) is one of the most famous and prolific female writers in the late Qing. In this thesis, I focus on her poems and lyrics on three important subjects, self-portrayals, plum blossoms, and Qingfengge 清風閣 (Clear Breeze Pavilion), in her two poetry collections, Tianyou geji 天遊閣集 (Collected Poems of Heavenly Travels Studio) and Donghai yuge 東海漁歌 (Songs of the Fisherman of the Eastern Sea), in order to advance the current scholarship on this female author and Ming-Qing women’s writings and reveal the uniqueness of Gu’s poetry. My study addresses how she represents herself, recounts her life experiences, …

Tblt In Virtual L2 Classroom: Challenges, Actions And Insights, Jianan He

Masters Theses

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has attracted a great deal of interest since its inception, as reflected in a large body of relevant literature; most of the literature deals with TBLT in in-person (IP) settings and a small number of TBLT applications in online settings. The shift from the traditional IP mode to the virtual classroom caused by COVID-19 has made the effective application of TBLT a concern. However, most of the past studies have been conducted from the researcher’s perspective, which cannot meet the urgent needs of language teachers from a practical standpoint.

This study examined TBLT in virtual Chinese …

On Shattered Ruins: The Cultural Practices And Production Of The Great Tanghsna Earthquake In Post-Mao Literature And Film, Jinhui Chen

Masters Theses

This thesis explores how traumatic memories of the Tangshan earthquake have been constructed in literature, documentary works, and films. Through analyzing the narrative construction of the Tangshan earthquake in the form of film and literature, this thesis studies the relationship between state power and individual agency in the representation of this natural disaster. It argues that the cultural representation of this natural disaster reflects a subtle shift: one from the dominant nationalistic narrative to the narrative centering on individuals’ psychological trauma. It suggests the high degree of state control and politicization is what is similar between a natural disaster such …

Beautiful "Looks" Created By Women: New Aesthetics On Makeup For Overturning The Traditional Japanese Beauty, Yurina Yoshikawa

Masters Theses

ABSTRACT BEAUTY LOOKS CREATED BY WOMEN: TRADITIONAL BEAUTY AND NEW AESTHETICS FOR WOMEN MAY 2021 YURINA YOSHIKAWA B.A., NANZAN UNIVERSITY M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Amanda C. Seaman In this thesis I focus on comparing the styles of beauty or “looks” that women have created for themselves, as well as concepts of traditional beauty. By doing so, this thesis will clarify how women try to change traditional beauty concepts and express themselves. As anyone who has watched TV in Japan has noticed, Japan has stereotyped aesthetic values of women that mass media such as magazines or TV …

Mending What’S Invisible, Chaehee Yoon

Masters Theses

A written thesis to accompany the M.F.A. Exhibition Mending What’s Invisible, in which the artist’s personal experiences and memories explore the cultural identities and femininity in Korea and the US. These identities are explored by using traditional Korean motifs, embroidery patterns, and the visual images of the artist's childhood photographs in the projects of “Reconnecting of Nostalgia” and “Mutating”. Also the visual clips of the artist's hometown is demonstrated in the video project “Things I hated” that discusses criticalities of Korean cultures and a sense of nostalgia for childhood in Korea. The project comes out of a personal need to …

From Sanctuary To Home In The Post-Interstate City, Morgan B. Sawyer

Masters Theses

The removal of New York Interstate- 81’s (I-81) 1.4 mile stretch of raised, four-lane highway in Syracuse will highlight the critical role of socioeconomics, accessibility, and community building in urban neighborhood reclamation. The removal of what had been previously deemed an urban renewal project, presents Syracuse with new opportunities for space restoration and place-making efforts, atoning for careless and traumatic historic divisions, all the while exploring more substantive design responses tailored to the realities of the City. This thesis explores these fundamental planning considerations through a design lens; by proposing a comprehensive and integrated vision of physical and spatial opportunities …

The Cunning Little Vixen: A Folktale Illustrated On Stage, Mikayla Reid

Masters Theses

This thesis paper reflects upon the costume design process taken by Mikayla Reid to explore how color choice and application within designs can help create storybook characters off the page and onto the stage. This concept is explored through the costume designs for the opera The Cunning Little Vixen, a production theoretically staged at the Alice Busch Opera Theater for the Glimmerglass Festival in New York. The paper discusses Reid’s attempt to create designs that still feel like watercolor illustrations, even when realized in physical garments. It follows her process as she tests different dye techniques in search for what …

This Is Not A Thesis, Nima Nikakhlagh

Masters Theses

Reading the book Perform or Else by Jon Mckenzie along with the social distancing, isolation, and all the ongoing challenging and forced experiences of the 2020-21 Covid-19 pandemic era, on one hand, and my interests in performance art and physicality, on the other hand, made me think how can I create a work that represents an image of the body, the concept of action, and the idea of togetherness which are all essential for performance art, and/or for any performance.

All art disciplines combine theory and practice in order to depict the relationship between bodies, art, and education, and …

Real Fake Fighting: The Aesthetic Of Qualified Realism In Japanese Professional Wrestling, Clara Marino

Masters Theses

Professional wrestling is a performance art in which the line between fact and fiction is often obscured. Much of the existing scholarship on the medium that examines its dynamics regard reality and artifice focuses on the role of the artificial, analyzing pro-wrestling as primarily a form of heightened spectacle akin to passion plays or soap opera. However, professional wrestling in Japan, particularly that found in the country's largest promotion, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, features many elements that resemble real sports much more closely than many American promotions. These elements include fighting styles, wrestler injury, characters that do not fit easily into …

Long Day's Journey Into Realistic Scenic World: A Reflection On The Scenic Design For Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, Xinyuan Li

Masters Theses

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO REALISTIC SCENIC WORLD: A REFLECTION ON THE SCENIC DESIGN FOR EUGENE O’NEILL’S LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

MAY 2021

XINYUAN LI, B.A., SHANGHAI THEATER ACADEMY

M.F.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

Directed by: Professor Anya Klepikov

This thesis is a reflection of the paper project of scenic design of Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill. It’s a record tracking the entire design process from the script analysis to the final presentation and all the discovery along with the process. Successes and places need to be improved will also be included.

“A Constant Surveillance”: The New York State Police And The Student Peace Movement, 1965-1973, Seth Kershner

Masters Theses

Historians recognize that there was an increase in political repression in the United States during the Vietnam War era. While a number of accounts portray the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the primary driver of repression for many groups and individuals during the 1960s and 1970s, particularly those on the left, historians typically overlook the role played by local and state law enforcement in political intelligence-gathering. This thesis seeks to advance the study of one aspect of this much larger topic by looking at New York State Police surveillance of the Vietnam-era student peace movement. Drawing extensively on State Police …

Adapting The Hellmouth In The Office Of The Dead From The Hours Of Catherine Of Cleves: An Experiment In Using A Dramaturgical Approach To Medieval Studies, Tatiana A. Godfrey

Masters Theses

This thesis is an artefact documenting the process of adapting a late medieval painting of hell into a short horror film. The process of adapting the Three Mouths of Hell, housed within the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, serves as an experiment in applying a dramaturgical approach to medieval studies. The process of adaptation and production, informed by critical research about the Hours of Catherine of Cleves and its Three Mouths of Hell, yields new frameworks for understanding the history of Catherine of Cleves, her Book of Hours, and the Three Mouths of Hell.

Your New Best Friends: An Exploration Of Furby, Siri, And Other Sociable Electronics, Avery Forbes

Masters Theses

Your New Best Friends: An Exploration of Furby, Siri and Other Sociable Electronics is focused around interactive electronic systems and the effect these systems can have on our human psyches. My work focuses on two particular periods of development: the late 80’s to early 90’s, and the 2010’s to present. One period represents my childhood and the other my early adulthood. By comparing the two I can examine trends in the ways we engage with robotics and can better understand the ubiquity of electronically mediated interactions today. I utilize these new understandings to manipulate the capabilities of devices from both …

Physical To Virtual: A Model For Future Virtual Classroom Environments, Stephen J. Fink

Masters Theses

Virtual reality is a technology that has seen unprecedented growth since the turn of the century with increasing applications within business, entertainment, and educational applications. As virtual reality technologies continue to develops and markets expand, the world may see an increased demand for virtual classrooms: virtual environments (VEs) that students may access through immersive virtual reality technologies to receive guided instruction, conduct simulations, or perform tasks typical in a classroom setting. While many studies document how virtual reality is beneficial to educational processes, there is little discussion on how virtual environments should be architecturally designed. Thus one may hypothesize that …

Accumulations Of (Not) Doing, Richenda Cope

Masters Theses

As I encounter life during a global pandemic, caused by a virus that has us all homebound, I continue my own struggle with a different virus that keeps me not only homebound, but bed bound as well. In this thesis project, I make my way around and through the questions of chronic illness, self-worth, productivity and a changing relationship to time that arise in this dual viral experience - situating the personal within a larger social/political context.

Ancestral Hauntings And Utopian Conjurings: A Fool’S Journey Into Coven-19, Or Magicks For Unprecedented Times, Maegan Clearwood

Masters Theses

Conceived in the wake of a global pandemic and the unanticipated need to create digital theatre, COVEN-19, or Magicks for Unprecdented Times as a devising project consisted of two witchcraft-inspired performances: a fall 2020 Samhain ritual and a spring 2021 Beltane ritual. The company of undergraduate and graduate theatre witches explored decentralized, iterative, slow, caretaking, queer forms of devising over digital platforms. The written portion of this thesis takes the form of a digital tarot blog: 22 (plus a bonus) interconnected essays and spells that interrogate feminist and queer theories as they pertain to the Coven’s devising process. This digital …